By: Matt Billas
“You’re so skinny…” my ear hears, pricking up.
<Pause>
My disordered mind fills in the rest,
Bestowing unwarranted self-accolades, eager to please, praise.
False pretenses of grandeur and glory
Ill-deserved but nevertheless received.
“…you’re healthy, so fit, so committed.”
“You must exercise, eat well!”
<Fast Forward>
Do the healthy awake in a hospital?
Draped in an ill-fitting gown of lies
Wrapped in sterile sheets somehow soiled with deceit?
<Rewind>
But this time listen; hear the rest, absorb!
“You’re so skinny…” the voice repeats, now encumbered by fear.
“…you should eat more, exercise less, take care of yourself!”
Shameless charade of well-being; pantomime of health!
See what you’ve done, burdening others.
You’ve seen where you end up, where you take them.
Look at them!
<Rewind> … No response, the tape doesn’t stir.
<Rewind> Dammit! <Rewind> I plead, I press.
Nothing; the button overworn from use. If not then, how?
<Play>
Life resumes, the scene continues.
Where you’ve been, who you’ve been,
That film has played out; a strip uncoiled.
Who you’ll be, how you’ll be?